12.18.09
Posted in AV 2009-10 Domestic at 3:57 pm by Susan Dimauro
Every morning as I step into our white little Honda and make my way to work I pass by a sign that reads, Beacon Light Ministries: Thy Word is a lamp onto my feet and a light unto my path. Ironically, this is one of my favorite worship songs and I always take a pause when I pass by this sign to reflect on these words, but not too long though since I am driving and it’s a busy street. As I am living out my year as an AV, I am realizing the very truth of these words. God works in mysterious ways, but I am certain that while I didn’t always know I was meant to be an AV this year, God knew I was called to this path all along. I have truly been blessed this year to live in the Chicago community and to live with the three incredible women I am fortunate to call my roommates. I am confident that these lovely ladies were placed in my life for a reason. Living in community has definitely allowed me an opportunity to evaluate my self and my relationship with God. Every interaction with my roommates, be it prayer or a one-on-one conversation, provides me a different lens to observe with. While my community and I share similarities, we also differ in how we approach certain things. I am learning from them to let go more and trust that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. It is the diversity in our group that serves as the catalyst for the change I am already seeing in myself. God knows, just as St. Augustine did, that one should never be tempted to dwell in a state of complacency because you will remain there and never experience change and growth. With every change, comes a great opportunity for a renewal in one’s perspective, character, as well as in their faith. I am becoming more at peace with myself and comfortable in my own skin because of my roommates and I know it is because God is working through them to answer my prayers.
Though I have begun to trust more in God and myself, I have encountered several obstacles that have tested this at my work site. I work as a case manager for pregnant women who are without many resources such as prenatal care, food, and/or clothing. As I visit these women in their homes I hear stories of abuse, neglect, and tragedy. However, amidst the sullen cloud I feel above me after some of the visits, I have moments with clients that bring to light God’s eternal presence. It can be something as simple as making one of the women smile from a joke I share or even by holding my clients’ babies and witnessing God’s little miracles. I also witness the presence of God through interacting with my co-workers because of their attitude day in and day out. Even with a caseload of 180 clients, they make sure they are providing quality services to their clients. Clients’ numbers and residences are constantly changing and without notice, not to mention the continuing budget cuts. Despite all these obstacles, they come in early and leave late. They accomplish so much with so little and the relentless strength they display at work allows me to see God’s hand in it all. Ultimately, whether it be securing a healthcare provider for a client or giving a young, parentless teen someone to sit with and listen to her story, I am confident that I am doing God’s work and that I need only to trust in God’s will for everything will work itself out. Only through God will our true purpose in this world be illuminated to us and I look forward to observing what God has in store for me in the months to come.
Susan Dimauro
Chicago, IL
2009-2010
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12.14.09
Posted in AV Alumni at 7:09 am by osavolor
At this time of year when many people are consumed with the hustle and bustle of our culture, it’s so refreshing to take the time each day to read the Scriptures and reflect on the goodness of the Lord. As we search God’s Word and meditate on His attributes, we come to see His magnificent love and wondrous plans for our lives. We become more in tune with the Lord’s greatest desire for humanity, for us to become worshippers of Him for who He is. This week our readings from both the Old and New Testaments show us this.
The first OT reading comes from the minor prophet Zephaniah. He’s only called minor because of the short length of his book, but he has a mighty message like all prophets of the Lord. In Zephaniah 3:14-18 we read that we are to sing, shout, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord! Verse 17 says three very important things for us: 1) God will rejoice over you with gladness. 2) He will quiet (tranquil) you with His love. 3) He will rejoice over you with singing! Isn’t this absolutely amazing? The God of all creation is rejoicing over us, what an awesome promise to claim this day!
Our next reading is in Isaiah. Isaiah was a major prophet with a book of 66 chapters, considered by many theologians to be a type of mini Bible as the entire Bible also has 66 books – 39 books in the OT and 27 in the NT. Isaiah’s message was of great prophetic importance as he is considered the Messianic prophet with many references to Christ’s coming hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. In our reading Isaiah 12:2-6, we read of the greatness of the Lord. It says that Yah, the Lord, is our strength and our song! We are to praise the Lord, call upon His name; declare His deeds, and exalt His name. Isaiah goes on to say that the Lord has done great things and this is known in all the earth. God is our salvation by what Jesus Christ has done for us all on the cross. We only need to have faith, to simply believe that God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins that our payment would be covered in full! Faith, that’s it, wow! Not works, reputation, skills, abilities, or position in this world. We only need to have faith in Christ’s death and resurrection! This calls for great reason to celebrate with joy this Christmas Season!
The last two readings come from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, whom he writes to from prison in Rome, and Luke’s gospel. In one of the more quoted and popular passages of Scripture, Philippians 4:4-7, we read about the great joy Paul has in Jesus Christ. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!” He goes on to say, “Let your gentleness be made known to all men.” Verses 5 and 6 encourage us to prayerfully with thanks give the Lord our deepest pains and greatest desires, while also allowing God’s peace to guard our heart and minds in Christ Jesus.
Luke 3:10-18 records Jesus’ public ministry beginning at about age 30 with His water baptism done by His cousin John. John was the one who prepared the way for Jesus, as all previous prophets had done in the OT before him. John the Baptist said, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” We see here that John was prophesying that Jesus would come as God in the flesh that all may have the opportunity to receive Him into their hearts by faith. Christ came that all people may have the freedom to choose Him as their King by faith and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life fully surrendered to the Lord. We are called by God to be holy people, meaning to be set apart for His purpose but not perfect because Christ fulfilled that part for us. This cannot be done by our own merit, strength, good works or anything in and of ourselves. Rather, it must be done by the power of Christ living within us by His grace, mercy, love and power! What an awesome thought! We are free to live for Christ and He gives us His Holy Spirit to glorify Him!
Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” God has given us each the choice for salvation by the shedding of Jesus’ sinless blood on the cross for our sins. This is the Gospel. This is the Good News! We are sinners, condemned to death, but have the option for eternal life by God’s great love for us – simply by faith! What a wonderful fact to think upon this Christmas Season as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Truly our salvation is the greatest gift God could give us; much beyond our understanding is His perfect love, wisdom and provision for all humans. As the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah in Is. 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
As I reflect on my time as an AV in San Diego during the 2000-01 years, I think of how great the Lord has been to me between then and now. His grace and mercy have allowed me to see how much He cares for every one of us. In that time as an AV I began to develop a great spiritual hunger and thirst to know and understand God more. I desired to know Him personally as a real Person, not an invisible and obscure figure off far away in the unknown universe somewhere. I began to search the Bible and read His Holy Word to get to know God through His Son Jesus Christ. This decision to dive into the Scriptures on my own with the power of the Holy Spirit as my teacher has forever changed my life in ways that I cannot possibly express in my own words. It has led me to develop a daily walk with God in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My life verse written by David in Psalm 16:11 sums up how this decision has affected me. King David says, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
God has an abundant life awaiting each of us. It’s amazing, this life is given not to be filled with the pleasures of this world which are temporary and fading away. We can be blessed with the riches of eternal life with forgiveness, peace, joy, love, mercy, wisdom, and on and on and on. Only God through His Son Jesus Christ can fulfill the spiritual hunger and desire we have deep within our soul. What a joy this life is with Him!
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” God loves you so much, this Christmas, the ones of the past and ahead. The Lord has great plans for your life. Let me encourage you to seek His will for your life and search His Word to gain understanding of His unfailing love and the promises He has made for you. He will give you fullness of joy that we know this world will never provide. Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” May the Lord grant you peace and joy this day, season and New Year as we reflect on His goodness that came through the birth of Jesus Christ.
Joe Maloney
San Diego, ‘00-01
Joe recently moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho with his wife and son. The moved their to help plant a Christian church serving nearby populations in both Idaho and Montana. Their goal is to plant a number of churches in the area to continue to spread God’s word. Please keep them in your prayers as they minister to the people. During his Volunteer year, Joe served as a teacher’s aid to the Kindergarten class at St. Patrick School.
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12.07.09
Posted in AV 2009-10 Domestic at 9:24 am by kaitlynkupski
A few weeks ago I just couldn’t take it anymore. Every one of the 8th graders was being so horrible that I took away their next P.E. class and gave them a writing assignment instead. They ran around when I asked them to stand still. They got sick of the game they begged me to play and decided to sit down mid class. They then continued to argue with me when I told them they needed to stand up. Where have I gone wrong? I work as hard as I possibly can to give them a great class. I thought I could be the cool young teacher that everybody loved. I could play fun games, teach kids a lot about computers, learn about sports myself and perhaps even work on my farmers tan a bit. Turns out, the only thing which was true about that thought was my ability work up a good farmers tan.
I spend my time yelling at the students to not run around while we’re stretching, to actually run when they are doing laps, to stop talking so I can pick the teams and explain the game being played, and asking them to just TRY to play the game that day. Sometimes I have great days while other day’s kids get mad at calls made and tell me that they hate me and want a new coach. The only way I really think you could understand what a day is like is by reading some of the apology letters they had to write the day they didn’t have P.E. I found that these are the only things that really show how students act. Some just made me laugh while others show how the students actually behave.
“Dear Ms. Kupski, I’m sorry for not being respectful, talking back to you and not following your directions. I’m sorry for listening to music really loud with bad language. I’m sorry for not staying on my poly spot and messing around in P.E. and in the computer room. I hope you can forgive me for being rude and disrespectful to you the whole year.”
“The rules for computers were to not interrupt. They were to be quiet. Not to fool around. Not to misbehave. I fooled around. I misbehaved. I interrupted the class. I was being very loud. I should not have done those things.”
“I will get a better P.E. grade and I will try harder. From now on I will be the best I can be. I am sorry Ms. Kupski. I am so very sorry.”
“I’ll try harder to listen to you. Next P.E. class maybe we will have fun if we listen to each other. I am very stubborn though and it is hard for me to listen to what you have to say. I will try hard not to argue.”
“I am deeply sorry for my actions of not listening. I will do better so help me God. This will never happen again so help me God.”
“I will strive to be a good student. Sorry that I argue, it’s just that you don’t really watch and I am too competitive. I want to win every single game.”
“Next time, there will not be a next time. I will be the very best I can be in my behavior and my grades. Again, I am truly sorry. I hope we can still be friends.”
Each day at St. Patrick’s School as P.E. and Computer Teacher is a new challenge for me. I don’t know why, but the students feel they have to act as horrible as they possibly can and continuously misbehave before I can be “initiated” into the position. My struggle is attempting to see where I fit in at the school. Sometimes to the students I am “just a volunteer” while other times I am a teacher. I am in charge of a classroom (or parking lot) full of students and I have to spend time creating lessons and enforcing rules.
Without struggles though, my job would be too easy and I wouldn’t have anything to work towards (maybe not actually since I still am pretty clueless when it comes to most sports!). I am thankful though for the kids that really do show me what makes my job enjoyable, whether it be any kindergartner running to come latch onto me at any point in the day, 1st grader Annette screaming across the yard to tell me that she thinks my t-shirt is very pretty today, seeing the kids truly enjoying a game of big base kickball (my all time favorite), a junior high student being appreciative of the fact that I am running the KICS club, or just getting to know each of my 152 students on a more personal level. The teachers have been amazing in helping me whenever possible and give me the confidence to keep working as hard as I can. I am also lucky to have a community that continues to motivate me each day to persevere. As this year is quickly progressing I am beginning to see why it is God has me here in San Diego and at St. Patrick’s School and I am truly looking forward to everything that lies ahead for the remainder of this year.
Kaitlyn Kupski
San Diego
2009-2010
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12.06.09
Posted in AV Alumni at 9:26 am by osavolor
I’ve always been a list-maker. And each year around this time-the hectic weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas- my lists begin to multiply, becoming itineraries filled with holiday-related specifics I aim to conquer before the 25th. And as always, with the satisfaction of checking one thing off comes the addition of three somethings more. I’m perpetually playing catch-up.
Throughout my Volunteer year my list making was at an all time high, and during Advent they emerged in rapid production. Added to my usual tasks of gifts, shopping, and Christmas cards, were pageant rehearsals, window decorations for 14 classrooms, and gift drives; all the while trying to balance the unique opportunities offered in sharing Advent with my community.
With the approach of each Advent season, I intend to make “prayer” a top priority on my list. However, prayer somehow falls short of making my agenda, let alone being at the top of my to-do’s. As I devote myself to my lists, I seldom find time to devote to prayer- especially in the mad dash that is the last few weeks before Christmas. Recently, somewhere in the holiday potpourri mix, a friend shared with me one of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Paul suggests, “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (Thes 5:16-18).
I realized that “prayer” was not a one-time entry I could check off my list, nor did I want it to be. Instead, I needed to make each point on my list prayerful. In doing so, prayer is no longer an objective, another task on my list I have to get done. Prayer becomes an awareness, a consciousness of making the daily, ordinary goings-on into extraordinary moments of grace. Achieving this constant prayerful state doesn’t happen overnight or even in a week- a pretty nice reason we’re given four to try.
Through the ins and outs of your lists- the exciting moments and the more challenging tasks - I challenge you to make each one prayerful. Just as it’s foolish, and somewhat impractical, to add “be ready” to our Christmas lists, preparing for Jesus’ coming also takes time and preparation. But striving towards an always prayerful mind and heart is a good place to begin.
Rebekah Callaghan
Lawrence ‘08-09
Rebekah is living in Havertown, PA with her family, where she is substitute teaching and assisting with music ministry at her parish while she pursues a future in art. As a Volunteer, Rebekah served at St. Mary School in Lawrence as a Pre-K Aid and Art Teacher.
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